04:27 PM EDT, 09/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes closed lower Wednesday after the Federal Reserve eased its monetary policy by 50 basis points.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3% each. The Dow and the S&P 500 closed at 41,503.1 and 5,618.3, respectively, while the Nasdaq finished the session at 17,573.3. Utilities saw the steepest decline among sectors, while energy posted a gain. Communication services was little changed.

The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee reduced interest rates to a range of 4.75% to 5%, versus a Bloomberg-compiled consensus indicating a 5% to 5.25% range. Job growth has slowed, while the unemployment rate remains low despite having moved up, the FOMC said in a statement after its two-day meeting.

The FOMC's updated Summary of Economic Projections, or SEP, showed policymakers trimmed their median federal funds rate outlook from 2024 through 2026 while raising their unemployment rate expectations for the period.

There's nothing in the SEP that indicates policymakers are "in a rush," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a press conference after the FOMC meeting.

"The Fed is likely worried that labor demand would weaken more, causing additional stress points in the labor market," Oxford Economics said.

The US 10-year yield rose 7.1 basis points to 3.71%, while the two-year rate increased four basis points to 3.63%.

In economic news, US housing starts increased more than expected last month amid double-digit sequential gains in single-family projects, according to government data.

Weekly mortgage applications in the US jumped as the 30-year fixed rate for conforming loan balances fell to its lowest level since September 2022, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

"Application activity was up significantly last week, as market expectations of a rate cut from the Fed pulled mortgage rates lower," said Joel Kan, the association's deputy chief economist.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1.6% to $70.02 a barrel Wednesday.

In company news, Intel ( INTC ) shares dropped 3.3%, the steepest decline on the Dow and the Nasdaq, and among the worst on the S&P 500. The chipmaker remains committed to building its plants in eastern Germany despite announcing a two-year delay due to cost-saving measures, Reuters reported.

Resmed ( RMD ) saw the biggest drop on the S&P 500 Wednesday, down 5.1%, as Wolfe Research downgraded the stock to underperform from peer perform.

General Motors ( GM ) said its electric vehicle customers will be able to access Tesla's (TSLA) Supercharger network using a specific GM-approved adapter. GM shares rose 2.4%, among the top performers on the S&P 500, while Tesla fell 0.3%.

IPhone maker Apple ( AAPL ) was the best performer on the Dow, up 1.8%.

Gold fell 0.6% to $2,576.70 per troy ounce, while silver dropped 2.5% to $30.21 per ounce.